This movie is a thoroughly humane and sensitive portrayal of the painful process that is divorce. Noah Baumbach, who himself had a divorce with actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, seems to have drawn from his own life experiences for this film. The characters are all balanced and multilayered; the acting of the leads, specially Johansson and Driver, lend a particular personality to their characters. Everyone plays their role to the perfection, even the supporting cast including Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and the criminally underused Merritt Wever. This movie shows how a process as messy as divorce turns two people who love and respect each other into one wishing death on the other. No, they are not bad people, they are just people under bad circumstances, and Marriage story drives that point home. Overall a brilliant movie, and a great way to end the year.
I dont have a kid. Ive never been divorced. Or even married. Though I guess I was once a kid myself, Im not the product of a divorced couple. Im not even the product of a married one. Everyone I know who has gotten married or had kids did it before I met them, or stopped hanging out with me almost immediately afterward. Everyone Ive ever met who got divorced either did it before I met them, or is someone I stopped hanging out with beforehand. So I dont come to the subject of _Marriage Story_ with a wealth of experience, which means it doesnt exactly scream relatable content to me. Let me start where its easiest and everyone seems to agree The performances. Everyone in _Marriage Story_ is pretty great, none of the characterisations changed my life, but I get it. As a chance to display what these actors are capable of in a mundane setting where all that matters is their performance, yes, absolutely, _Marriage Story_ has buckets of success. Outside of this though... Im not even going to say that it fails elsewhere, just that it didnt win me. I like bleak movies, I like movies that make me feel something, even if its sad. But _Marriage Story_ isnt really that. It poses you the question of whether both Charlie and Nicole are good or bad people, and shows you each from their own and others perspective. The ending seems to imply that theyre good, or at the very least both good and bad (and arent we all?) but that really doesnt matter very much when we just spent all this time watching both of them be horrible. I know thats life, thats real, thats people, and blah bl-blah bl-blah, but thats little consolation when Ive just spent two-plus hours of my life being not at all compelled by a bunch of people being awful. Being awful convincingly, to the actors respective credits, but in this setting that is not my idea of a good time at the movies. 46% -Gimly
I never really came alive for myself; I was only feeding his aliveness.” I’ve said some harsh things about Netflix movies in the past, but recently I’m starting to warm up to them. ‘Marriage Story’ was absolutely excellent. A devastating portrayal of divorce that can bring out the ugly in people, especially with child custody. But it’s not all doom and gloom. It’s incredibly heartfelt with plenty of humorous moments. I guess you have to find the comedy during the difficulties in life. Lets just say my cheeks wasn’t dry afterwards. And yes, I wept. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson both gave masterclass performances. And I do mean some power house acting. Driver plays Charlie, a competitive and undaunted theater director that he is very clear about what he wants. Johansson plays Nicole, a mother who’s a delightful presence and loves to play, but is also a dedicated actor. This is the best I’ve seen from Johnasson. Her character delivers a monologue where she’s explains the issues in her life that’s all shot in one take, which brilliantly displays her acting chops where she naturally shifts from emotion to emotion - it was impeccable. The supporting cast were all fantastic. Lauren Dern, Ray Liotta, Merritt Wever, Julie Hagerty, and Alan Alda were all brilliant and really bounce off the energy from Driver and Johansson. Even the child actor held his own between these juggernauts of actors. Not only are the performances the strongest element of the movie, but so is the writing. Every character is so uniquely fleshed out that the conflict feels so incredibly raw. It’s one of the reasons why I was so glued to the movie from start to finish. One of the best screenplays of the year. This is the first Noah Baumbach movie I’ve seen from him and I am aware of his other work, just haven’t got around to watching them. However, I feel like this was the best introduction to him as a director, because he crafted such a sympathetic look on marriage dissolving away. We don’t see the full relationship, but we do get to hear Nicole and Charlie individually describe what their love about each other, while there’s a montage that flash’s through their routine life together with their son. Nothing visually striking in the presentation, but not once did it feel stale. The score from Randy Newman was terrific and fitted wonderfully with the movie. I loved the aspect ratio as it added a lot to the overall mood of the movie. When the two go head to head in the custody battle - that doesnt mean they’re enemies. They still talk to each other as if they are still a thing. It’s also hard to pick aside, because you understand where each of them are coming from, and even if you do choose, you still feel bad for either one. Overall rating Any other relationship movie aint sh*t compared to this.
Very well acted and bittersweet for sure, this is a movie that didnt really touch me deeply, mainly because didnt grow up in a split family or ever been married or have kids, so this Im sure speaks to those with those kind of experiences. Still, can appreciate the performances from both Scarlet Johansson and Adam Driver, proving once more how great actors they are and more than their respective blockbuster franchises. **4.0/5**
